Heads Of The Valleys Development buys FTR

The group behind the proposed Circuit of Wales motorsport venue has taken ownership of FTR, a chassis manufacturer in all three motorcycle grand prix classes.

The Heads of the Valleys Development Company has acquired the UK-based company with the intention of eventually building sports motorcycles on the Circuit of Wales site.

The new organisation will now include one of the directors of the Heads of the Valleys Development Company, Chris Herring.

Herring, a former HRC Honda Racing manager, said: "The new partnership with FTR Moto represents a significant move for Circuit of Wales.

"It's a highly successful British engineering firm, which is synonymous with high performance motor sport. We're already receiving positive enquiries from various factions of the motorsport world for FTR Moto's services."

The ?250m Circuit of Wales potentially represents the biggest investment in the UK automotive industry in 50 years, and last week saw the end of the first phase of consultations between the Heads of the Valleys Development Company and the communities surrounding the location for the site.

A planning application for the Low Carbon Automotive Centre of Excellence is set to be presented to Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council later this month.

Launched in 2009, FTR Moto was quick to taste grand prix success, winning during the inaugural 2010 Moto2 season. It has since expanded to the Moto3 and CRT MotoGP classes.

The top FTR rider is third in this year's Moto3 standings (Maverick Vinales), twelfth in Moto2 (Simone Corsi) and third in the privateer CRT MotoGP category (Yonny Hernandez).

As well as Avintia's FTR-Kawasaki, Gresini also uses an FTR chassis on its Honda-powered CRT machine.